“Apple has begun certifying components for iPad 3 and many Taiwan-based makers are actively participating. Some makers have already landed certification such as Radiant Opto-Electronics with LED backlight units, according to industry sources,” Rebecca Kuo and Jackie Chang report for DigiTimes.

“There are market rumors that iPad 3 will adopt AMOLED panels and Apple management has been visiting Samsung Electronics for this matter,” Kuo and Chang report. “However, industry sources said this is unlikely to happen and iPad 3 will still adopt 9.7-inch LCD panels.”

Kuo and Chang report, “According to component makers, the timing for the launch of iPad 3 should be in 2012. Taiwan-based firms think iPad 2 will become the mainstream and Apple will lower its price to compete with other tablet PCs.”

When you design your own components, the analogy may be better expressed as starting to feed and fatten the turkey chicklet today in preparation for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Pre-buying production time and runs is what enables Apple to stay ahead with enough parts and pieces to build the pads.

Your theory of Thanksgiving dinner suggests that if you were in charge, you’d be out shopping for the frozen turkey 1/2 hour before it was scheduled to be on the table with a house full of guests from out of state

The pc makers are struggling to get in the game, and are shooting for where the puck was, as in iPad 1. With a cheaper iPad 2, if the other guys finally come up with something like an old iPad, there will be no money to be made.

Apple is all about just-in-time delivery of the parts for product assembly. They’re not taking delivery for actual goods right now; rather, they’re locking in contracts to make those parts available as production ramps up for the next device. Once you’ve locked in a parts supplier with a favorable contract, they will be less likely to supply parts to a competitor, and that competitor will have to looks elsewhere at a higher price.